The present invention relates to a multiple computer system having a plurality of computers, intelligent terminals, work stations and the like interconnected via a transmission line, and more particularly to autonomous and distributed processing in such a system.
In conventional multiple computer systems (e.g., disclosed in "Multiple Microprocessor Systems: What, Why, and When" Computer, IEEE Vol. 16, No. 3, March 1983, PP. 23 to 32), each computer stores programs to be executed, or a predetermined specific computer transfers programs by a certain procedure such as remote loading, to another computer which executes the programs. In such a system, timely program loading may not always be attained every time a computer requests programs, or the transfer of programs between computers may not always be attained as desired. Thus, the prior system are not flexible enough to deal with the load status of the computers, the occurrence of failures in the network, the addition of computers to the network, or the removal of computers from the network. In addition having a specific computer control the programs of a large network, is difficult.